Herald of Steel

Alexander watched the lucky five hundred cheer and get jealous looks from the other eight hundred with nonchalant coldness even after knowing the brutal fate that was to befall the mostly innocent men, women, and children.

He particularly felt bad about the women and especially the young girls as these brutes will pounch on them with hyenas on meek sheep, and tear their dignity to shreds.

Most had never seen girls so beautiful, so fair, so tender, so noble and so sheltered, and under the hands of these brutes, death might be a better alternative for the women than to survive the ordeal and live with the trauma for the rest of their lives.

But although Alexander was certainly moved by the thought of their tragic fate, he remained unmoved about the order.

The palace had to be taken, Amenheratf was most probably there and even if Alexander forbade committing any atrocities he could write it in blood that it would have to effect.

These men were ruthless and after the little stunt Adhania had just five days ago, they were out for blood and no amount of order and Gaia’s blessed’s command was gonna stop that.

And so since this was inevitable but he lacked the stomach to witness it, he gave the order to Grahtos to do it, himself being content with only knowing what was happening and not wanting to see it first hand the true scale of it all, the distinctive reaping of clothes, the screeching screams, the painful grunts and the doleful howls of husbands and brothers.

Alexander watched the five hundred cavalry storm towards the defenseless castle with mute indifference, the castle guards being mostly absent, just waking up or having been already sent to the front line.

Then he turned to address the eight hundred or more precisely seven hundred and fifty men left behind (Fifty were left behind to guard the inner gate), “Men, you may be disappointed that your brothers got to taste the finest flesh. But do not be saddened.”

He then pointed to the temple of Ramuh and shouted, “Because the world’s greatest riches lie await for you.”

In ancient times, people did not have banks but instead stored their money in temples, the idea being the temples were the dwelling of the gods and thus inviolable.

And for most cases, this belief held true, as even the most barbaric soldiers usually refrained from looting the temple, even if they sacked the whole city.

But the key point was ‘for most cases’ as it implied there were some exceptions- like now.

Alexander’s declaration caused a shallow tide of uneasiness to rise in the hearts of many as Alexander’s sharp eyes caught his men fidgeting and hesitating but seemed to be too afraid to say anything. 𝒃𝙚𝙙𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝒍．𝒆𝒕

Alexander decided to wipe this uneasiness away, “Men, do not worry, Goddess Gaia has blessed us with her champion and I will lead you. The mother goddess has fought god Ramuh for the past two days, evidenced by the continuous downpour, and finally today she won! This is why the rain stopped just before the battle and this is why we stand where we are!”

He spoke these spokes with such confidence and authenticity that even he began to feel they might be true as soldiers let a triumphant, “Hurrah.”

‘Hehe, I missed my calling in my previous life. I should have become a snake oilman.’ Alexander chuckled at his own bullshit.

This was why he couldn’t go to the palace to kill Amenheratf and let Grahtos take the temple.

To take the temple would need some lone blessed by the gods.

Alexander blew his horn to signal to the horsemen to form up and they charged!

They beelined straight towards the magnificent white temple, overlooking the beautiful pink waters of the sea of life and standing majestically on its sixty huge, thick, intricately decorated white granite pillars, them being carved and chiseled to perfection.

Its walls were twelve meters high, made of the same flawless granite as the pillars, and decorated with elaborate friezes that depicted epic battles between the gods, various stories and parables from the Takqa, and even the names of famous Adhanian kings and heroes.

To add to the luxuriousness of it all, the fringes of the friezes were embroidered using gold threads and each depiction of Ramuh had jewels embedded in him, while the names on the wall were set with black granite and embroidered with the same golden threads.

The temple’s roof was a huge dome, on top of which stood the golden statue of the god of lightning himself, planting his feet on a canvas of exquisite painting of gold and blue as the whole dome seemed like a golden mirror reflecting the magnificent azure sky above.

It was an architectural marvel and could go toe to toe with any of the seven wonders of Alexander’s previous world.

But Alexander’s eyes did not linger on this magnificent spectacle as he barged into the lush lower courtyard floored with white marble and then galloped up the ten-meter-wide marbled stairs with hundreds of men trailing behind him, emitting a bloodthirsty aura intent on destroying all.

Alexander kept his gaze fixed on the open bronze temple doors and his heart bled with greed when his eyes were hit by the glittering riches inside.

“By I, King Amenheratf’s orders.” He shouted in broken Azhak when he finally reached the top, chanting the same thing he had heard Grahtos say, just cleverly switching out the name of Ptolomy for Amenheratf.

This was also chanted by the rest of the men behind him minus the ‘I’, their chorus finally drawing the attention of the many priests and priestesses that were just about to start their day.

All of them, having just woken up and due to the rapid blitzkrieg conducted by Alexander, had little cognition of the mortal danger they were in and only looked at the golden armored warrior holding the royal seal and speaking in a thick Azkak with curiosity and confusion.

‘King Amenheratf? He’s here?’ They wondered as the golden armor and the little golden circle held by the man claiming such seemed authentic.

Thoughts like ‘Does the king need us to do something?’ And ‘Why is he here with so many men?’ were produced in the minds of the priests.

But Alexander was not gonna wait for these helpless fools to figure things out as he went forward and spilled first blood on sacred grounds when he speared a priest and followed it up with an accurate javelin throw to a young priestess.

“Urg…, Your..Ma…,” Even as they fell, they weren’t able to understand what had happened and their last moments were filled with not anger and unwillingness, but by confusion and a desire to know what they had done wrong so they could ask for forgiveness.

The audience was also frozen in shock, seemingly unable to even believe their beloved god-king, their master, their god, was capable of doing such a thing.

‘Those two must have committed blasphemy’ They tried to rationalize themselves.

But this notion was quickly shattered when the men behind their king also started slaughtering them en mass, reaping their lives like they were harvesting wheat, all the while chanting the phrase, ‘By King Amenheraft’s orders’ like a broken record player.

“Nooo, Your Majest..aahhh,”

“Mercy, mercy…urgh,”

“…our crime. What’s our crime?”

“Mad! The king has gone ma..argh!”

“Urg…you insane lunatic. Ramuh will not let you off fool.” An old priest kneeled on the ground clutching in bleeding stomach as he gazed fiercely not at the golden armor, but at the royal seal, held up high in the air by Alexander as he kept shouting, “By I, King Amenheratf’s orders, die!”

He had picked up the last word while listening to the Adhanians charge at them, and because of his infantine grasp of Azhak, the grammar was wrong.

But these priests were too busy dying or running for their lives to actually give one hoot about why their king was suddenly speaking in half Azhak, half nonsense.

Alexander watched impassionately as the people and priests inside and around the temple screamed and run in horror at the white floor being given a fresh coat of paint, their routes disorderly and chaotic, many even jumping into the life sea and trying to swim to the other side for safety.

Some of Alexander’s men seemed eager to hunt down these stragglers but Alexander ordered, “Let them go. They will spread fear and panic among the populace.”

Then he got off his horse and shouted, “Into the temple, come men!”

And so the sky under Alexander soon changed from a clear, sunny day, to one lit by huge, golden candle chandeliers as Alexander was dumbstruck by the sheer opulence on display.

Thick luscious red carpets draped the floors, making one feel like he was walking on snow as the red fabric hugged and kissed one’s foot, lovingly taking away all the pain and exhaustion. Luxurious golden curtains with strings of rubies flowing off them decorated the side walls and huge golden chandeliers containing hundred of thick candles swayed gently in the wind let in by the four huge doors placed on four sides of the temple.

And then, there was the center masterpiece, right in the center of the temple.

A huge ten feet statue made of solid gold, depicting a strong, muscular man with a long beard, holding an orb in one hand and a lightning bolt in the other.

‘The god of lightning, thunder, and rain- Ramuh,’ These words subconsciously appeared in the mind of even the most illiterate soldier there and for a brief moment, the greed in their eyes was suppressed by the sheer magnificence of the scenery.

But only a moment, because their eyes not only detected the golden statue but also the enormous, literally hundreds of tonnes of ropals that were piled up around the feet of the statue, creating a stack that rose up to cover even his ankles.

This was the collective acclamation of the Adhan and the Adhanian royal family!